Metaplace was a

software platform A computing platform or digital platform is an environment in which a piece of software is executed. It may be the hardware or the operating system (OS), even a web browser and associated application programming interfaces, or other underlying ...

intended to democratize the development of

virtual world A virtual world (also called a virtual space) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activitie ...

s, which was later used to make

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

games. The company was established by ''

Ultima Online ''Ultima Online'' (''UO'') is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released on September 24, 1997 by Origin Systems. Set in the '' Ultima'' universe, it is known for its extensive player versus player combat system. ...

'' and ''

Star Wars Galaxies ''Star Wars Galaxies'' was a ''Star Wars'' themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows, developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts. Released on June 26, 2003, to much critical ac ...

'' designer

Raph Koster Raphael "Raph" Koster (born September 7, 1971) is an American entrepreneur, game designer, and author of ''A Theory of Fun for Game Design''. Koster is widely recognized for his work as the lead designer of ''Ultima Online'' and the creative dir ...

. According to the official website, the platform was "client-agnostic", which means that virtual worlds developed on Metaplace can be accessed using any device that connects to the Web.

Product summary

Metaplace provides

user-generated User-generated content (UGC), alternatively known as user-created content (UCC), is any form of content, such as images, videos, text, testimonials, and audio, that has been posted by users on online platforms such as social media, discussion f ...

virtual worlds. As Metaplace is browser based, worlds made with Metaplace can connect to each other through hyperlinks. Every object in Metaplace has a unique URL. This character of Metaplace allows advanced users to use these URLs in setting up and reading RSS feeds, set up ad services within worlds, and access and show content from the web within their worlds. According to founder

, Metaplace seeks to "make online world elements... part of the standard code which drives the web" Metaplace uses a

Lua Lua or LUA may refer to: Science and technology * Lua (programming language) * Latvia University of Agriculture * Last universal ancestor, in evolution Ethnicity and language * Lua people, of Laos * Lawa people, of Thailand sometimes referred t ...

variant called Metascript. Metaplace users can use Metascript to add functionality to any object in their world. These functionalities can be included in Animals and pets, doors, enemies with the ability to fight and attack, puzzles and games, artsy effects, vehicles. On its release, the official client is slated to use the

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Fla ...

plugin.Technology Review: Creating a Web of Worlds
/ref> Because the official client used Flash, it did "not allow users to build 3-D worlds," but initially delivered 2D or "2.5D" virtual spaces. However, Areae had stated that they would actively encourage the development of third-party clients, which would allow for 3d functionality. The system was designed to use a "Thin client", where all the processing that can be done on the server, is, reflecting Raph Koster's philosophy that "The client is in the hands of the enemy." Other platforms running on a similar philosophy include

Bit Whirl The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented ...

and

Roblox ''Roblox'' () is an online game platform and game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation that allows users to program games and play games created by other users. Created by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released i ...

Company history

The platform was originally developed by

Areae :''The word 'areae' is also the Latin plural of 'area'.'' Areae is an American computer technology corporation located in San Diego, California, that was established in July 2006 by Raph Koster. Areae has been officially changed to Metaplace, I ...

, but then they officially changed the company name to Metaplace Inc. Metaplace closed their platform on 1 January 2010. However Metaplace, Inc. continued to remain. After closing the platform, the company pivoted towards using its virtual worlds platform to build social games on

. It released two successful games on Facebook using its platform, ''Island Life'' and ''My Vineyard'', after which the company was acquired by

Playdom Playdom was an online social network game developer popular on Facebook, Google+ and Myspace. The company was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area by University of California, Berkeley graduates Ling Xiao and Chris Wang and Swarthmore College gra ...

. Shortly after the acquisition of Metaplace Inc., Playdom was acquired by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, where it operates as a subsidiary.

References

{{reflist

External links

Metaplace
(official website)
Areae's Raph Koster Talks Metaplace
(extensive interview) Multiplayer online games Virtual world communities Lua (programming language)-scripted video games